Five Games to Watch for in 2016

A new year is upon us and with it come many new games. After taking a look at the upcoming games list, I’ve picked out the few that stand out to me most in the next few month. While the beginning few months of the year are typically dry in terms of games releases, 2016 is looking to be quite a bit different. With great lineups on all four platforms 2016 is definitely getting off to a running start.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

Set to release on February 23rd, Garden Warfare 2 brings us back to the gameplay we loved in the original Garden Warfare. Combining third person shooting and tower defense mechanisms all thrown under the hilarious comedy we’ve come to expect from PopCap. I was originally a bit underwhelmed with the original Garden Warfare, but have come to appreciate it much more after giving it a second chance. I’ve also been getting pretty heavy in to Battlefield 4 lately, which makes me love how much of the exact opposite Garden Warfare is more and more.

Do I really need to explain this? While we might not be getting a new Zelda game this year, I’ll take what I can get. I was too young to fully appreciate Twilight Princess when it released ten years ago. Nintendo did a great job with their HD release of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, and that was actually the reason I picked up a Wii U to begin with. Twilight Princess HD also comes with an amiibo of Midna riding Wolf Link which will unlock a new “Cave of Shadows” area.

You can look for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD to hit stores on March 4th. (Did I mention that’s two days before my birthday?). You also get a cool Midna & Wolf Link amiibo for buying the physical edition of the game. Using the amiibo with the game unlocks new challenges.

Open world. Not quite an MMO. Play with a group of your closes friends exploring a deserted world we once called home. Sounds a lot like Destiny, right? That’s because it is, and that’s great. The Division is Ubisoft’s attempt at what they call “online-only open world third-person shooter role-playing video game with survival elements.” That’s a mouthful.

Given that Destiny has been unfortunately tapering down in terms of quality and DLC this year, Ubisoft is perfectly poised to jump in and take their position in the console market.

The Division takes place in a post-plague New York City that has been hit with a virus that transmits by the exchanging of money. Given the amount of money changing hands around the holiday season, that adds some context to all the Christmas decorations adorning the city.

Interested parties can play The Division’s open beta later on in February. I had my chance to get my hands on the closed beta in late January and it did not disappoint.

The Division releases on March 8th (did I mention that’s two days after my birthday?) and you can preorder it on Amazon.

Hitman

I’ve always been a big fan of stealth games. Games like Dishonored, Metal Gear Solid, the Batman Arkham series, Mark of the Ninja, PayDay, I could go on-and-on. At the top of the stealth game pedestal sits, of course, the Hitman franchise. With missions that are basically open-world and the ability to finish things as a corrupt janitor or a violent psychopathic man in a chicken suit, the game only ever disappoints when you let it. In that sense Hitman is truly a game that is what you make it, and for that reason it excels excellently. The new chapter in the Hitman series is going to feature an episodic release, with the first piece, set in Paris, coming on March 11th (remember who’s birthday that’s near?).

Square is doing things a bit different, offering each episode at $10 after an initial purchase of $15. Conversely, you can pick up the entire game for the regular price of $60 at the end of the year.

You can preorder the full edition of Hitman on Amazon, or look for the first episode on your console’s store of choice.

ADR1FT

We’ve written numeroustimes about ADR1FT. I’ve watched ADR1FT, I’ve played it, I’ve loved it. While it’s an unfortunately small subsidiary of the market that will be able to play the game on the Oculus Rift as it was intended, I feel that ADR1FT is one of, if not the absolute best, reason to pick up the VR headset.

For the uninitiated, ADR1FT is a first person suspense survival game that places you on a defunct space station. You’re tasked with exploring the ship and trying to determine what went wrong. Sounds simple enough, right? Well in space, you need to breathe, unfortunately. You’re in charge of collecting and finding air canisters throughout the wreckage to keep yourself alive, lest you suffocate to death.

ADR1FT releases with the Oculus on launch day, March 28th. You can preorder an Oculus Rift for $599 from the Oculus Store.

About the author

Austin Griffith

Austin Griffith is LevelSave.com's Owner and Editor-in-Chief. He began gaming young with Pokemon Silver and Banjo-Tooie and hasn't stopped since. You can find him on Twitter @AustinG909 and on Xbox Live at iKarmakazi. You can email him directly at Austin@LevelSave.com